A Lady's Guide to Selling Out
Sally Franson
(Author)
Description
With "elements of The Bold Type, Mad Men, and The Devil Wears Prada" (Entetainment Weekly), a young woman navigates a tricky twenty-first-century career--and the trickier question of who she wants to be--in this savagely wise debut novel Casey Pendergast is losing her way. Once a book-loving English major, Casey lands a job at a top ad agency that highly values her ability to tell a good story. Her best friend thinks she's a sellout, but Casey tells herself that she's just paying the bills--and she can't help that she has champagne taste. When her hard-to-please boss assigns her to a top-secret campaign that pairs literary authors with corporations hungry for upmarket cachet, Casey is both excited and skeptical. But as she crisscrosses America, wooing her former idols, she's shocked at how quickly they compromise their integrity: A short-story writer leaves academia to craft campaigns for a plus-size clothing chain, a reclusive nature writer signs away her life's work to a manufacturer of granola bars. When she falls in love with one of her authors, Casey can no longer ignore her own nagging doubts about the human cost of her success. By the time the year's biggest book festival rolls around in Las Vegas, it will take every ounce of Casey's moxie to undo the damage--and, hopefully, save her own soul. Told in an unforgettable voice, with razor-sharp observations about everything from feminism to pop culture to social media, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out is the story of a young woman untangling the contradictions of our era and trying to escape the rat race--by any means necessary. Praise for A Lady's Guide to Selling Out "Bitingly funny . . . [Sally] Franson's snappy debut nimbly skewers the high-flying world of advertising and romance in the age of social media. . . . Franson's irresistibly flawed heroine holds her own as she strives to find honesty, meaning, and even love in a demanding world, resulting in an addictive, escapist novel."--Publishers Weekly "A high-spirited heroine loses herself in a vortex of modern striving in this debut novel. . . . Come for the hilarious narration, stay for the whirlwind plot, luxuriate in the satirical gleam."--Kirkus Reviews "A wry, observant take on career success and ambition."--New York Post "A book lover is torn between a cushy gig and . . . well, her soul, basically."--CosmopolitanProduct Details
Price
$27.00
Publisher
Dial Press
Publish Date
April 10, 2018
Pages
288
Dimensions
6.5 X 1.0 X 9.6 inches | 1.0 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780399592034
BISAC Categories:
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About the Author
Sally Franson grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and was educated at Barnard College and the University of Minnesota. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Best American Travel Writing, and on NPR, among other places. She lives in Minneapolis.
Reviews
"Bitingly funny . . . [Sally] Franson's snappy debut nimbly skewers the high-flying world of advertising and romance in the age of social media. . . . Comparisons will be made to The Devil Wears Prada, but Franson's irresistibly flawed heroine holds her own as she strives to find honesty, meaning, and even love in a demanding world, resulting in an addictive, escapist novel."--Publishers Weekly "A high-spirited heroine loses herself in a vortex of modern striving in this debut novel. . . . Come for the hilarious narration, stay for the whirlwind plot, luxuriate in the satirical gleam."--Kirkus Reviews
"A fast-paced and quick-witted trip into the world of advertising today. With smart, funny characters and perfectly crafted dialogue, Franson cleverly explores the battle between giving in and staying true to oneself."--Booklist "A wry, observant take on career success and ambition."--New York Post "This frothy, sneaky tale from Franson intermixes elements of The Bold Type, Mad Men, and The Devil Wears Prada."--Entertainment Weekly "A book lover is torn between a cushy gig and . . . well, her soul, basically."--Cosmopolitan "Truly beautifully observed, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out is a gorgeous treat. Sally Franson's voice is addictive: whip-smart, biting, and clever. I kept pausing to reread parts of it with a huge smile on my face."--Jane Green, author of Summer Secrets
"A Lady's Guide to Selling Out perfectly captures the glamorous highs and hilarious lows of the cutthroat world of new advertising--the Wild West of our time. Casey Pendergast is an unforgettable heroine, a feminist Don Draper for our age, navigating the bizarre ways in which art and commerce intersect. Sally Franson's debut is exhilarating, terrifying, and totally addictive."--Lucy Sykes, author of Fitness Junkie "If Jane Austen's Emma and Dorothy Parker had a three-way with David Copperfield (not the magician), Casey Pendergast would be their wisecracking, heartbroken love child. In Sally Franson's smart, funny, and sharp-eyed novel, terrible mistakes are made and, mostly, rectified. A happy ending, a true heart, and a very good and clever time. Perfect."--Amy Bloom, author of Away "A wonderfully comic and smart novel about one woman's trip to our contemporary Vanity Fair, complete with Instagram, Twitter, and messaging of every sort . . . Both funny and sobering, this book is a remarkable debut from an amazingly prescient and talented young writer."--Charles Baxter, author of The Feast of Love "Funny, fast-paced, and seductive, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out is about books and sex and ambition and love and money and the various undeniable attractions of staying true to oneself versus (for the right price) selling out. Sally Franson's debut novel is hilariously terrific."--Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members
"A fast-paced and quick-witted trip into the world of advertising today. With smart, funny characters and perfectly crafted dialogue, Franson cleverly explores the battle between giving in and staying true to oneself."--Booklist "A wry, observant take on career success and ambition."--New York Post "This frothy, sneaky tale from Franson intermixes elements of The Bold Type, Mad Men, and The Devil Wears Prada."--Entertainment Weekly "A book lover is torn between a cushy gig and . . . well, her soul, basically."--Cosmopolitan "Truly beautifully observed, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out is a gorgeous treat. Sally Franson's voice is addictive: whip-smart, biting, and clever. I kept pausing to reread parts of it with a huge smile on my face."--Jane Green, author of Summer Secrets
"A Lady's Guide to Selling Out perfectly captures the glamorous highs and hilarious lows of the cutthroat world of new advertising--the Wild West of our time. Casey Pendergast is an unforgettable heroine, a feminist Don Draper for our age, navigating the bizarre ways in which art and commerce intersect. Sally Franson's debut is exhilarating, terrifying, and totally addictive."--Lucy Sykes, author of Fitness Junkie "If Jane Austen's Emma and Dorothy Parker had a three-way with David Copperfield (not the magician), Casey Pendergast would be their wisecracking, heartbroken love child. In Sally Franson's smart, funny, and sharp-eyed novel, terrible mistakes are made and, mostly, rectified. A happy ending, a true heart, and a very good and clever time. Perfect."--Amy Bloom, author of Away "A wonderfully comic and smart novel about one woman's trip to our contemporary Vanity Fair, complete with Instagram, Twitter, and messaging of every sort . . . Both funny and sobering, this book is a remarkable debut from an amazingly prescient and talented young writer."--Charles Baxter, author of The Feast of Love "Funny, fast-paced, and seductive, A Lady's Guide to Selling Out is about books and sex and ambition and love and money and the various undeniable attractions of staying true to oneself versus (for the right price) selling out. Sally Franson's debut novel is hilariously terrific."--Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members
